Chapter Text
Mike Wheeler is a heterosexual man thank you very much. Every time he thinks about it he knows it for sure. He is a boy; he has a girlfriend that sometimes he even likes to kiss. She’s nice and soft and warm. You see, he is a complete heterosexual exactly like his father and his father before him.
He really tries to keep thinking this way, because there’s no explanation in the way every time his best friend is in the room, he can’t keep his eyes off him. He really tries not to think about the exact shade of his hazel eyes and about the way the only moment in his life he feels like he can breathe is when he is talking to him. But it’s irrelevant because he is straight, just like his father.
So, there must be a bug in the system or something that he can simply push down. He’s getting good at it, you know. He pushes things down and he just prays one day he’ll forget about them. He knows that in the long run these things are going to come back to haunt him, but he always liked to run.
To run from his urges, from his feelings. Not necessarily because they are wrong but because he’s scared. Scared of what is going to happen if he dares to say things out loud.
He’s constantly running, that’s what he is doing now, in the middle of night. He is laying down in his bed staring at the ceiling and all his mind can think of is Will. He’s scared because lately they don’t even look like best friends. They live together, yes, but they don’t talk anymore. They used to talk all the time but now there’s like a wall between them.
And every time he hangs out with El he thinks he may even like this wall, because if there wasn’t being with El would be so much harder. He knows it’s wrong, but every time they talk all he thinks about is how Will would’ve understood him better.
That last thought gives him nausea because he’s a sick individual and El deserves better. Most important of all, she deserves someone that truly gets her because he knows deep down, he is making her miserable.
Now his mouth feels dry. Without a second thought he gets up and starts heading downstairs to get some water.
Walking down the stairs the house is so quiet he can hear the breath of every one asleep around him. He doesn’t know what he is looking for, he doesn’t even think he’s thirsty, he is just losing his mind feeling this ache in his chest.
When he arrives in the kitchen, he immediately knows he is not alone. The air feels different, the entire room suddenly feels too hot. The first thing he sees are a pair of greenish eyes, HIS green hazel eyes looking all over him, enlightened by the moon’s light behind him.
Amazing. He went downstairs to get a break from his obsessive thinking and now the object of every single one of his dreams and nightmares is right in front of him. In the dark. There’s something so poetic about that.
“Oh” Will utters, looking like he has just seen a ghost. God Mike really should’ve stayed in bed.
“Hey” Mike says back. He wants to say more. He really does, he doesn’t know why the words inside his throat get stuck like they do. He always chooses to let his words die like that.
No one says anything. Will is holding an empty glass of water and he looks like he’s trying to find reasons to keep lingering, or at least that’s what Mike’s head wishes.
Now he’s just about to turn around, get to the stairs back to the basement, disappear and get away from Mike all over again. And Mike doesn’t want that, he wants Will to stay here, like a statue that he can admire.
Will is already moving to surpass the threshold when Mike, without even meaning to call his name.
“Will, wait” Mike starts but just lets his words hang in the air
“Yeah?” Will suddenly turns around like he was electrified. Will’s wearing a white tee and has his hair all messed up. He has the urge to comb his hand through his locks but he pushes it down.
“Why aren’t you asleep? I think it’s pretty early in the morning” He definitely knows it’s early, he just wants to know what Will is doing or better what he is thinking.
“Couldn’t sleep, it’s cold down there and you know I wanted to drink something” well…
“Yeah, me neither, I…” and he doesn’t know how to keep the conversation going, and there’s this ache in his chest because he never had this problem, not with Will. Never with Will.
And then he snaps. “What happened?” and when he sees Will's confused face he adds “to us? What happened to us?” There’s no coming back now. Will either gets it or he doesn’t.
“What do you mean Mike?” He knows he understood, Will always understands exactly what he means. Actually, he was the first one back in Lenora to ask him this same question.
“You know I feel like there’s a wall, we used to talk more you know” He should’ve not said that, because this weird situation between the two of them had been going on for months, so why bring it up now? Well Mike knows why. He’s getting antsy.
“Mike… I don’t know it just… we’re still friends it’s not like I am mad at you” Will says like he wanted to say something else altogether. Like his face is making an expression while his mouth is telling him another thing.
“I feel like I’m missing something” He doesn’t even know what he means with that now.
“Remember when we were in fifth grade and you used to be scared of me befriending other kids?” Will brings up, like he’s reminiscing something so far away. When Mike nods, he continues his tale. “Well, I had this new friend Devin and you know you started ignoring me and not talking to me until one day we both couldn’t take it anymore and we made up and you said something to me that I’ll never forget” Mike is getting really antsy now but he cannot do anything other than listening “You said to me that you were scared I was going to forget about you and then… you said that nothing ever was going to divide us, and you know I still believe it Mike, you were my first friend” Will looks so beautiful when gets emotional.
He responds “I know you’re my best friend, you always will” he says it like there's something missing there. Maybe that peace is going to fill the hole in his chest.
“Yeah, Mike I am always going be there” why does it feel like torture where he says it like that?
There’s nothing more to say. Actually, he has a millionth more things to say but he used all his courage already. Will looks like he wants to add something but he opens and closes his mouth but not a sound comes out. He speaks after a while.
“Night Mike” He doesn’t think he’ll be able to go back to his room but he has to.
“Night Will” They both turn around now and when Mike gets back into his bed, his head is unexpectedly clearer and he is able to fall asleep.
He dreams of hazel eyes and honey locks.